Introduction to Financial Statement Fraud (Online Self-Study)

CPE Credit: 2Course Level: BasicPrerequisite: None

Unlike most occupational fraud, the typical goal of fraudulent financial statement schemes is not to directly enrich the perpetrator, but rather to mislead financial statement users about the profitability or viability of an organization. Unfortunately, the result can be crippling not only to the organization, but to anyone deceived by these false statements.

This ACFE online self-study course presents an introduction to the most common schemes used to manipulate an organization’s financial statements. Each section of the course includes a description and example of the scheme, how the scheme is perpetrated and common red flags. The course concludes with a discussion of common techniques used to uncover financial statement manipulation.

Please note: To be eligible for CPE credit, you must complete the final exam within one year of purchase date. You may only claim CPE credit for a course once.

Table of Contents:

Lesson 1: Introduction

Lesson 2: Financial Statement Fraud Schemes

Lesson 3: Fictitious Revenues

Lesson 4: Timing Differences

Lesson 5: Improper Asset Valuation

Lesson 6: Concealed Liabilities and Expenses

Lesson 7: Improper Disclosures

Lesson 8: Earnings Management and Manipulation

Lesson 9: Reviewing Financial Statements for Manipulation

Lesson 10: Vertical Analysis

Lesson 11: Horizontal Analysis

Lesson 12: Ratio Analysis

ACFE online self-study courses feature:

24/7 access to courses through your Internet browserSave time and quickly earn CPE credits with instant access, grading and printable certificateThe flexibility to start or stop a course and pick-up right where you left offNo additional shipping fees

Problem: When I attempt to access my courses from “My Online Learning,” the course never launches, or I receive an error message saying my pop-up blocker needs to be turned off.

Solution: Your web browser must be configured to allow pop-ups in order to access ACFE Self-Study courses. Your browser may prompt you to allow pop-ups, or you may have to allow them manually. You may either allow them for all sites, or allow them just for the
current site.

For information on how to manage your pop-up blocker settings in a specific browser, click the link below that corresponds to the browser you are using:

Also note that many toolbars, such as the Google Toolbar and Yahoo! include pop-up blockers as well. If you have one or more toolbars installed on your browser with built-in pop-up blockers, you must configure them to allow pop-ups.

Problem: When I click on a course from “My Online Learning,” I am presented with a login page, but my ACFE.com username and password won’t allow me to log in.

Solution: You do not have to log in a second time to access your online self-study. You most likely reached the login page because you clicked the link labeled “Click Here” as shown below:

Do not click that link; instead, allow your browser to automatically open the eLearning window on its own, which should happen after a few seconds. This will log you in automatically so that you can access your online courses.

Problem: I receive the following error when I try to load a different lesson with a course:

Solution: This occurs in Internet Explorer when trying to load a different lesson without closing the current lesson. This error can be avoided two different ways:

Always close the current lesson before going to another one. Always click the Close Window button (usually the red “X” in the upper right corner) of the current lesson before clicking on another lesson.

Use a different browser. This error seems to only occur in Internet Explorer, so using Mozilla Firefox or Google Chrome should resolve the issue (see below for links to download either of these browsers).

Other Troubleshooting Tips: If you encounter other errors, such as courses freezing or crashing, we recommend taking the following action:

Try a different browser. ACFE online self-study courses are designed to run on all modern web browsers, but if you encounter a problem that is not solved using one of the suggestions above, you can try using a different web browser to see if it eliminates the problem. We have most frequently seen where using Mozilla Firefox or Google Chrome has resolved an issue that was seen in Internet Explorer.

Mozilla Firefox can be downloaded
hereGoogle Chrome can be downloaded
here

Make sure you are running the latest version of Flash. Go to
Adobe.com to see what version of Flash you are running, and then compare that to the table on that page to see what the latest version is for your operating system/browser combination. If you are not running the newest version, you should upgrade and see if that resolves the problem.

The Association of Certified Fraud Examiners, Inc. is registered with the National Association of State Boards of Accountancy (NASBA) as a sponsor of continuing professional education on the National Registry of CPE Sponsors. State boards of accountancy have final authority on the acceptance of individual courses for CPE credit. Complaints regarding registered sponsors may be submitted to the National Registry of CPE Sponsors through its website:
www.learningmarket.org

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